Copake is a town in Columbia County, New York, United States. The population was 3,615 at the 2010 census. The town derives its name from a lake, which was known to the natives as Cook-pake, or Ack-kook-peek, meaning "Snake Pond".

Copake is on the eastern border of the county. Taconic State Park is along the eastern edge of the town.

Contents

History

Copake was part of the 1686 Taconic Grant to Robert Livingston for about of good land and of woodland. After it was purchased from the Indians it turned out to be , and he established the English-style Livingston Manor. The manor extended well into what is now Massachusetts. The first lease given by Livingston in Copake was for about in 1687 to Matthews Abraham Van Deusen. Because New England claimed ownership west to the Hudson River, a border dispute broke out. The Massachusetts Bay Colony laid out three townships west of the Taconic Mountains in 1755. Most of the present town of Copake was in one of the townships. New settlers were given free, and some of Livingston's tenants refused to pay rent. The border was settled in 1757 by the Lords Commissioners of Trade in London. Farmers west of the border continued to protest, however. In 1844 a rally organized by the Taconic Mutual Association took place in the center of the hamlet. After the rally the arrest of several of the leaders sparked wider protests. Eventually the Anti-Rent Party was formed in New York state, and New York instituted land reform. The Anti-Rent Party called for a Homestead Act to develop the western land. It became part of the Republican Party platform and was important in the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

The town of Copake was formed in 1824 by splitting it from the town of Granger that was renamed Taghkanic. An early industry was iron mining and smelting. In Taconic State Park adjacent to Copake Falls is the "Ore Pit", a former iron mine, now a deep swimming pond.

Former residents of note

Research Tips

External Links

Outstanding guide to Copake family history and genealogy resources (FamilySearch Research Wiki). Birth, marriage, and death records, town histories, cemeteries, churches, newspapers, libraries, and genealogical societies.

This place has no commentary yet. It is only a stub. You can help by editing it and sharing what you know: research tips, history, relationships with other places, etc.